Graney: Raiders desire to build roster trumped red flags

Even now, as the Raiders descend deeper into their figurative week from hell — what in the world might occur next? — this part never changes: Nothing is more important to an NFL team than building its roster. Nothing trumps finding those players you believe are good enough to win.

No matter how much troubling information is uncovered beforehand.

“At the end of the day,” general manager Mike Mayock said in May of 2019 on the signing of oft-troubled guard Richie Incognito, “you can’t have all Boy Scouts.”

At least he backs up his words.

Damon Arnette is the latest young player to be shown the door by the Raiders. While pending lawsuits and reportedly crashing four rental cars in the span of a month as a rookie (hey, I found someone who’s a worse driver than me) lets you keep your day job as a second-year cornerback, a social media video of you brandishing firearms and threatening to kill someone sort of forces the organization’s hand.

Arnette’s exit Monday followed that of fellow 2020 first-round draft pick Henry Ruggs, the wide receiver waived following his involvement in a car crash that left 23-year-old Tina Tintor dead.

What has happened to that 2020 draft class — where only three of seven selections remain — has no bearing on 2019 or ’21 or those to come later.

But the Raiders also just lost two first-round picks from the same class in a matter of seven days for actions that can best be described as horribly reckless and potentially violent. That’s on the individuals first and then the team that chose them — despite a collection of red flags.

“Am I sick to my stomach right now on a lot of levels?” Mayock said. “Yes. I mentioned we found the risk acceptable after doing more homework on Arnette than anybody we’ve done in the years I’ve been here, and obviously we missed. That is 100 percent on me.”

And, don’t forget, Jon Gruden.

Power and juice

He might have resigned as head coach following the unearthing of several insensitive emails, but no one held the power and influence and decision-making juice of Gruden. If there was extensive research done on a player like Arnette and the Raiders still drafted him, understand who made the final call.

Just don’t buy into this ignorant narrative making the rounds: That what occurred with Ruggs and Arnette had more to do with them playing in Las Vegas than anything else. It’s lazy. Cliche.

Have you seen the town and its 24-hour appeal affect any Golden Knights or Aces players in such a negative manner? The Raiders have drafted countless men who have been solid citizens and terrific in the community. Incognito has, by all accounts, been one as well.

Look. The spot (Topgolf) where Ruggs reportedly began his night of drinking closed at midnight. He then went to the house of friends and is said to have continued partying. It was a place that could have just as easily existed in Green Bay or Jacksonville or Cleveland. Las Vegas isn’t the problem. Irresponsible and dangerous people are.

“There is always conversations about different players and what their ‘fit’ is,” Mayock said. “Can a country kid live in a big city, or vice versa? My thing is this: In just about any mid-to-big size city in the country, if you want to find trouble, you can find it. And our job is to find the kids that will get past that.”

Do more research

People want it to be more than this, but it might not be: Instead of some systemic problem where a majority of players might now wrongly be painted with the same silver and black brush, we might simply be talking about two bad guys.

I suppose, then, it’s on the Raiders to do even more research and pay even more heed to those red flags.

But if they think a dude can play — and I mean really play — history is pretty clear for most NFL teams. Building a roster is paramount. Issues can always be explained away and addressed later.

Yet sometimes, as we saw in the most tragic and disturbing of ways this past week, players ultimately make the decision for you.

Ed Graney is a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing and can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.